Many structures variously referred to as playpens and, more recently, play yards have been designed. Most of the early playpens which have been commercialized were rather bulky and very cumbersome to use. Various examples of such playpens can be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,464,866, 2,491,036, 2,590,315, 2,784,420, 3,165,760 and 4,538,309. Many of these playpens are referred to as being foldable and, therefore, portable. Those which are folded to a size which is still generally large and difficult to transport are not truly portable. Other playpens which are said to be portable are in fact of the type which must be disassembled and later reassembled. It is readily apparent that labeling a playpen as portable does not make it so. Playpens which because of their bulky size or because of the time consuming steps needed for disassembly and reassembly are not portable in the commonly accepted use of the term.
Even more recently, structures for juvenile use designed and disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,811,473 and 4,934,025 have been commercialized. The structures are referred to as play yards. The foldable play yard described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,437 requires a central hub and pivotally attached floor support legs emanating therefrom and pivotally attached to lower corner members. The play yard also requires upper side rails which are pivotally attached together at a mid-point by latch means and pivotally attached to upper corner members. The manner in which the side rails are attached together at the mid-point appears crucial to having a structure which is foldable, yet is sturdy when in-use. The disclosed latch means comprises several discrete parts which must be separately manufactured to strict tolerances and then assembled in multi-steps. The play yard described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,934,025 is also foldable. It is similar to the play yard of U.S. Pat. No. 4,811,437 in requiring a central hub, pivotally attached floor support legs, and upper side rails which are pivotally attached together in a mid-point and to upper shoulder brackets. A unique hinge is used to connect the upper side rails in the midpoint. The hinge rotates from a locked to an unlocked position. However, here also the hinge must be precisely manufactured and assembled in many steps. Each requirement adds to the cost of the product.
There is still a need for a play yard which is truly portable. Such a play yard necessarily must be folded into a size which is compact. Ideally, the play yard would be comprised of a minimum number of parts so as to allow for an easy sequence of folding steps as well as to reduce the cost of any such structure. In accordance with this need, there has been developed a portable play yard which is foldable to a compact size. The play yard is economical to manufacture and is easy to use.